Phuong Ngo - Political Conflict

Political Conflict

The City of Fairfield is considered one of the most ethnically diverse suburbs in the entire world. According to the 1991 census, 70 percent of Cabramatta's population were immigrants. Around 25 percent were of Vietnamese descent while another 10 percent were of other Asian origins, only two percent of the population was of Anglo-Saxon descent. John Newman had been elected to the Fairfield council in 1977 and was known for his campaigns against the Asian criminal gangs that were a serious problem. At the time the media regularly portrayed Cabramatta as a "centre of criminality" and the heroin capital of Australia while Newman considered Ngo to have a part in that due to his involvement with the Mekong Club which many believed to be laundering money for the Cabramatta gangs. According to his priest, Ngo had very strong opinions regarding Europeans; that they were all "stupid" and racist.

In 1990, the Fairfield Champion local newspaper published an article regarding a proposal to add an inscription commemorating the communist take-over of China to the Pai Lau gate (Freedom Gate) in Cabramatta’s Freedom Square. As China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, ALP policy was pro-communist. Ngo, then deputy Mayor of Fairfield and an ardent anti-communist, blamed Newman for the proposal and sued the newspaper. The case was settled out of court. In 1991, Ngo stood as an independent for the seat of Cabramatta and Newman, who was the sitting member, issued a press release questioning Ngo’s refugee status. Ngo received only 11.7% of the vote, a result he blamed on his being Asian.

Following the election, Ngo joined the factionalised ALP with the help of the Labor Right led by Ted Grace with his new Canley Vale branch now directly competing with the Newman's (Labor Left) Canley Heights branch for members which led to considerable infighting over branch stacking. The ALP General Secretary, John Della Bosca arranged a meeting to resolve the dispute and Ngo agreed not to challenge Newman for pre-selection in exchange for Newman not challenging the credentials of members who joined Ngo’s branch. At this time Newman was being targeted, his car had been paint bombed three times and he was receiving death threats. Publicly he blamed the Vietnamese 5T gang but privately he confided in acquaintances that he believed it was Ngo "and that gang of hooligans" at the Mekong Club.

In 1994 Fairfield wanted a sister city. Ngo advocated a city from Taiwan which was endorsed by councilors Nick Lalich and Anwar Koshiba while Newman, in line with official party policy, pushed for China. A Taiwan relationship was against Australian Federal government policy as Taiwan was not diplomatically recognised as a nation. According to former Cabramatta detective Tim Priest, Ngo had received a $117,000 cheque from Jin-Gou Chang of the Taipei Cultural Office in 1994 and this information had been passed on to Newman. Newman accused Ngo, Lalich and Koshiba of accepting funding from the Taiwanese community and Embassy and stated that they should not be re-elected to the council, a position for which he received considerable support. The Hsinchu City sister city relationship was accepted despite only 100 Cabramatta citizens having Taiwanese ancestry. On 1 June the ALP State Electoral Council condemned Ngo and Lalich, stating that if they continued to breach ALP policy regarding China, they would both be expelled. Ngo was furious and began openly approaching people who were not criminals for advice on acquiring guns and hiring a hitman.